Respronics Amara Gel vers Resmed Quattro FFM's

[jumbuk]

Hi all, I'm an older “Newbie” to the forum, and would like to thank all the contributors to it for helping me in my quest to get on top of my sleep apnea problems.
I'm from Perth in Western Australia and was diagnosed with a severe Apnea problem with a in home sleep test, this resulting in an AHI of 48.7

I was alert enough to use the 4 week trial period with the hired APAP to make myself familiar with all of its settings, this allowed me to go it alone and save a lot of money, with the aid of this forum with all its information.
So far I have purchased the Resmed S9 Autoset, Pilairo nasal pillows and a Respronics Amara Gel full face mask, all from the United States.
Have found that with the nasal pillows I apparently have some problems with mouth breathing, so I'm now awaiting the arrival of a chin strap, and yes from the good ole USA.

As for the Respronic's Amara Gell FFM, have spent a lot of nights experimenting here, trying to prevent leaks and be able to wear it for longer than about 2 hours at a time.
The big problem seems to be the tension required over the bridge of the nose causing sever inflammation and sores, and you are unable to wear it any more than 1 night before this happens.
Have I got a problem FFM here?

My question is, I have seen on the forum a lot of people singing the praises of the Resmed Quattro FFM, has anybody had experience with the Amara as above, and tried the Resmed Quattro?

I would be very interested in any suggestions that are out there with this problem.

Many thanks

Leon

[Tez62]

Welcome jumbuk, I haven't used the Amara, but had the Mirage Quattro for over two years and got the marking after loosening the straps a little and using some material as padding over the red area's eventually got rid of the masks. I have just bought the Quattro Air 3 days ago, the newest Resmed FFM on the market and find it a little better than the Mirage, it is smaller and lighter and so far I seem to have less leak problems but are still getting used to it.
Well done for buying from the US I got my original kit from here in Australia ast the marked up price and did get the mask from here because I wanted to try it for size but will start buying from the US from now on.

[zonk]

Hi jumbuk, welcome to Apnea Board
Congrats on doing your homework and acquiring your new machine. FYI, you can get an S8 power cord from Supplier #13 (Aussie supplier) to use with the S9 power brick instead of plug adapter also filters are cheaper than US - Aussie made Seatec chinstrap available from them too.
Masks something need to be tried before start ordering otherwise waste of money if did not works for you, FFM are not cheap

Mask reviews http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Forum-P...iews-Forum

[me50]

I am currently trying out the Amara Gel and for the first 3 nights, it has been full of leaks and mask farts. I make sure to wash my face before bed even though I don't have oily skin and that has helped a little.

Look on the nose portion of the forehead piece. You can push the button and extend the forehead piece and that sometimes makes it more comfortable.

I used the Quattro fx for several years and am not fond of it. There is also a Mirage Liberty that has nasal pillows and oral portion that may work for you. It doesn't cover as much of your face as a ffm does. I haven't tried it but you could google it for patient reviews. It isn't a good mask for side sleepers though and since I am working on training myself to stay off of my back, it probably wouldn't work for me. I think if they could figure out a way to make it work for side sleepers, I would give it a shot.

[trish6hundred]

Hi jumbuk,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
It's GREAT to hear that you did your homework before you got your machine.
Good luck in finding a mask that will work for you and with your CPAP therapy.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.

[tkeating4]

I too had issues with the Amera mask digging on the bridge of my nose. As others have said the ResMed Gecko Nasal Pad helped, but not perfect.

[jumbuk]

Many thanks for the comments, have found that less tension on upper strap and increasing tension on mask adjuster lead to the best nights sleep (6.4 hours) and with minimal leaks, but still suffering from inflamed nose bridge and have had to cease wearing the Amara for a few days.

One thought has crossed my mind, the night in question that gave me good results and 6.4 hours sleep was one of very low humidity here in Perth at around 27%, a lot of water was used in the H5i as it is set to Auto climate control, this giving 24c and 70% humidity at the mask, noticed the mask area was very wet, maybe softening the skin to cause this problem!
Will now wait until poor old nose heals before once again giving this Amara Gel FFM another crack.
I will report back later on the findings.

[me50]

Many thanks for the comments, have found that less tension on upper strap and increasing tension on mask adjuster lead to the best nights sleep (6.4 hours) and with minimal leaks, but still suffering from inflamed nose bridge and have had to cease wearing the Amara for a few days.

One thought has crossed my mind, the night in question that gave me good results and 6.4 hours sleep was one of very low humidity here in Perth at around 27%, a lot of water was used in the H5i as it is set to Auto climate control, this giving 24c and 70% humidity at the mask, noticed the mask area was very wet, maybe softening the skin to cause this problem!
Will now wait until poor old nose heals before once again giving this Amara Gel FFM another crack.
I will report back later on the findings.

did you know that on the forehead piece there is a white button that you can push and move the device forward which takes some of the tension off depending on how much you move it forward? I wasn't told about it but found out by watching the video on you tube

I have moved my humidifier from 86 to 80 and it seems to use more water now

[jumbuk]

Hi all,
In the last week or two I have persisted with the “Respronic's Amara Gel” using for two nights on and two nights off, in the hope that my nose would harden up to this beast!
But still it continues to causes a problem around the bridge area of the nose, have now purchased a “Resmed Quattro Air” and after three nights, its like heaven as you are hardly aware of it being on.
The amount of tension on the mask straps is far less that the Amara Gel, meaning your brain is not being squashed from the head, and with far less problems of leakage, for me anyway.
Have checked both masks out along side each other, and its not hard to see that the design of the Quattro around the nose bridge area is far superior than that of the Amara Gel, also the sealing skirt around the face is of a thinner more pliable silicon, requiring less tension to obtain the seal.

So after all of this its the thumbs down for the Amara Gel from me, and a thumbs up for the Quattro Air, if only I had checked this forum out before the purchase of the Amra Gel.

Once again many thanks to all for the responces, and I hope that my experiences may assist others in their purchasing dilema.

Leon

[Lukie]

Hi all, I'm an older “Newbie” to the forum, and would like to thank all the contributors to it for helping me in my quest to get on top of my sleep apnea problems.
I'm from Perth in Western Australia and was diagnosed with a severe Apnea problem with a in home sleep test, this resulting in an AHI of 48.7

I was alert enough to use the 4 week trial period with the hired APAP to make myself familiar with all of its settings, this allowed me to go it alone and save a lot of money, with the aid of this forum with all its information.
So far I have purchased the Resmed S9 Autoset, Pilairo nasal pillows and a Respronics Amara Gel full face mask, all from the United States.
Have found that with the nasal pillows I apparently have some problems with mouth breathing, so I'm now awaiting the arrival of a chin strap, and yes from the good ole USA.

As for the Respronic's Amara Gell FFM, have spent a lot of nights experimenting here, trying to prevent leaks and be able to wear it for longer than about 2 hours at a time.
The big problem seems to be the tension required over the bridge of the nose causing sever inflammation and sores, and you are unable to wear it any more than 1 night before this happens.
Have I got a problem FFM here?

My question is, I have seen on the forum a lot of people singing the praises of the Resmed Quattro FFM, has anybody had experience with the Amara as above, and tried the Resmed Quattro?

I would be very interested in any suggestions that are out there with this problem.

Many thanks

Leon

All ff masks seem to leak. But I like the Quattro Air best. It is a well designed mask and comfortable, just leaky.